The First Drop
by Captain-Creeper
Summary: Anima Null has come to Beacon academy as the last stop in her educational tour of Remnant. After a few years in each kingdom's training schools she's decided Beacon will be her permanent advanced school. Along the way, she runs afoul of a Psychopath and the White Fang. Joined up with Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, will the team manage to survive the school years?
1. Late Night Shopping

It's dark out, the moon shining overhead, fragmented and beautiful. I take a moment to admire it. The stars are all drowned out by the city lights, so its not like the moon has competition tonight. I take in a breath, resist the urge to howl, and make my way into Dust till Dawn. "Hello. The regular please." I say to the old man working the register. He nods, and I head into the back to read the magazines. Goth girl is there, reading weapon magazines as always. I pick up a magazine whose front features an article about which hybrid dust type is more useful for fighting Deathstalkers. My white wolf ears twitch some in delight.

I get to the second page of the article when the door opens again. I pay it no mind. Until the old man says "Please just take my Lien and leave." I spare a glance, and see criminal 'mastermind' Roman Torchwick and assorted goons. Bowler hat, clothes so white they make my hair look gray, and a smug smile plastered on his face. No surprise no one likes him. I grab Red and duck behind a shelf.

"Hey!"

"Shh!" She gives me an angry look, then shakes herself out of my grasp and into the aisle.

"Hey, put your hands up!" One of the goons yells, walking this way. I sneak farther away, getting near some dust vials.

"Are you… Robbing me?"

"Yes, what are you stu-" He grunts angrily as Red lets out some sort of karate scream, and she leaps out of my view. And a window breaks.

"What the hell red?" I mumble, shifting to see her out the window, unfolding a scythe. "So… this is what we're doing, huh?" I swipe three vials of icy blue dust, and wait in the shadows. As the vigilante girl beats up a few thugs I draw a symbol on the ground. I can't exactly form glyphs with my aura, so I make a simple amplify glyph with one vial. I pour out another vial, and let my aura shape the natural energy of ice, and freeze the two thugs aiming their guns at her.

"Red, red, red, isn't it past your bedtime?" He says, blocking her scythe and kicking her away. "Always the kids causing trouble." An explosive flies out of his cane, knocking her down the street. I vault over a toppled shelf and run outside, swiping a crystal as I do. I use it to send a flurry of fireballs at him. "Now the pets are joining the fight huh?" He says, his cane's handle flying to a nearby ladder and yanking him away from my attack.

"I am no one's pet!" I climb up the ladder, Red passing me by as she uses her scythe's recoil as a type of propulsion. That weapon is a menace. When I scramble upright Roman has boarded a bullhead. "What the hell?" I growl.

"End of the line girls!" He hurls a red dust crystal that lands between us, and raises his cane. I reach out to the explosion as the crystal begins to explode between us, when we're suddenly thrown to the other side of the roof by a huntress. It is the unmistakable Glynda Goodwitch, with her riding crop at the ready. It acts like a magic wand for a magician, though I doubt she needs it.

"Get back children." Ruby and I slide behind cover as Roman shoots a few more blasts, then cycles out with someone else. I can't see her face from here. With a few motions pillars of fire erupt underneath Glynda. She manages to avoid them, and Ruby even takes a few shots at the woman. I throw a few ice spikes at her. They melt in a blaze, while she uses a free hand to block Ruby's rifle rounds. Next a giant ball of fire slams into my cover, knocking me off the building. By the time I got back up the ship had flown off, and Glynda is glaring daggers at us. Well, I haven't even made it to Beacon yet and the year's off to an exciting start.

"A huntress! Can I have your autograph?"

"Do you have any idea of how much trouble you two could have caused?"

I look to red, who just kind of presses her index fingers together, looking around the room. Glynda's icy stare falls on me, and I'm eager to stare at the corner, which just seems far safer. "I hope you realize your actions will not be taken lightly. Both of you put yourselves and others at risk."

"They started it!" Red yells.

"If it were up to me, you would both be sent home with a pat on the back." I found myself smiling at the compliment. "And a slap on the wrist." Her riding crop lands right between both of us on the table, causing me to flinch and my partner in crime to squeak. "But, there is someone here who wants to talk to you two." Glynda retreats through the door.

"So, Red. You uh, think we're in trouble?" I shift to her, and she just shrugs. "So uh, what's your actual name?"

"Anima Null, of the Null clan. Curious to see one of you in Vale. And miss Ruby Rose. You have...silver eyes." A man dressed in black with a greenish vest, and much brighter green shirt walks in with two plates. One contains various strips of meat. Jerky. The other, a tall glass of milk surrounded by cookies. Those poor cookies never stood a chance. Ruby dove right into eating them. I at least ate the jerky before me slowly.

After a moment he draws his scroll, and shows off a video of the fight. "So, I know where you learned to use dust," He looks right at me, with a somewhat knowing smile on his face. I feel myself blush under his gaze. "But where did you learn to wield such a deadly weapon Ms. Rose?"

"S-Signal Academy."

"You're telling me that a pre hunter school teaches people to wield highly lethal scythes?" I blurt out, staring at the young girl. She gives a sheepish grin.

"I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow." He smiles.

"That's my uncle!" She stops to swallow all those cookies, and seeing the conversation's not focusing on me, I start eating again. "Sorry, that's my uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal Academy. I was complete garbage before he took me in, but now I'm all Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!"

"Nerd."

"Hey!"

"Well, it was impressive. Both of you." He shifts himself. "Might I ask what brought an adorable girl like yourself to a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well, I want to be a huntress." His gaze then shifts towards me.

"And may I know why you're here?"

"Ah, well...I'm attending Beacon soon." He sits back, complacent enough in that answer. Not like it was a lie, but he's perceptive enough to know I'm holding back.

"You're attending Beacon?! That's so cool! When I finish my two years at Signal I'm going to apply too! You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know!" I slide my chair away from her as she smiles like some crazy person.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. Headmaster of Beacon academy."

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you."

"Do you want to come to my school?"

"More than anything." Goodwitch and Ozpin glance at each other for a bit, before she makes a rather disapproving sound and walks out.

"Well, ok."


	2. Packing Up The Past

"Arcuno I'm home!" I push the cabin door open. A large cat comes running from the back room, sitting in front of me. I bend to pet her, then start collecting my things. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go alone. Beacon doesn't allow pets." She lets out what I'm sure is a cat's way of sighing, then heads into my room. I follow her in after packing some clothes. My scroll goes off when I open the closet. "Yeah?"

"About done at my Cabin?"

"You really do like to rush people. I said I'd be out by tomorrow. There's plenty of time left in the day."

"Hey, calm down. Just trying to work out how much space I'll have to store my own things in."

"I'll be out in a few hours. Long before you're back from hunting."

"Well, stay safe cub."

"Yeah, you too Uncle."

Sitting on a stand within the closet is my armor. I strip out of my old clothes and get on a fresh, less stand outish set. Plain blue shirt and bluejeans. Next, the leather chestpiece of my set. Eighteen different pockets for my dust vials, equally divided into two large squares of nine on each side. My boots, with a knife holster in each boot. And a knife in each holster. Not my primary weapons, but Dad insists you can never be too prepared against the creatures of grimm. Next, my gauntlets. Fits right up to the elbow. Lightweight metal squares have been sewn into them, for the purpose of deflecting attacks. Doesn't work well on head on strikes, but making a glancing blow even less impactful never hurt. The wrist plates are flint based too, for creating sparks to ignite powdered dust incase my aura is depleted. My father's idea. You can never be too prepared. I hoist my backpack up, and pick up Arcuno.

"I'm going to miss you, little stray." She purrs, and I sit with her awhile. My eyes drift around my room, to a few decorative items. A picture of my family, my human mother and my father who looks more wolf than faunus. He's got a muzzle, eyes, ears, tail, and pure silver fur. Probably makes grooming rougher. My eyes settle on a collection of carved wooden sculptures my uncle gave me, several grimm sitting more regally than threateningly. Memories come calling.

Me, sitting at home with mom. Hearing about her day, Dad's missions. Occasionally her missions. Both were hunters, of a sort. Hunting the grimm around our Monastery to ensure it stayed monster free. Lessons of how to fight, to defend myself. How to harvest the dark side of the soul, to make it a weapon to aid the light. I was six when I saw my first grimm. It came barreling at me, teeth shining like freshly polished swords. My father barely got to me in time, digging his claws into it, carving it apart. Probably more brutally than it would have killed me, if I'm being honest. He can certainly be scary.

I wielded my first weapon at eight. Far from home, in another relative's training circle. I had to prove to my Aunt Ellen I could fight better than any other potential hunters before I could submit an application to Oscuro. In Sanctum I learned just how important it is to be quiet. The grimm in the mountains there listen well. And the thugs on the Mistral streets were rather dangerous to a twelve year old. Atlas taught me survival. Set loose in the tundra with nothing but a winter coat, I passed Kieth's test with barely any life in my primary school itself taught me how to be reckless correctly. Rigorous day in and day out formal education paired with multiple Dust courses, combat scenarios, and a whole day of sleep. Now I turn to Beacon. Running out the door, I can only wonder what this last step of my education will teach me.


	3. Arrival At Beacon

I barely get into the airship when I see Ruby again, being tackled by a blonde girl. I almost attack her, but it seems the stranger's a friend. Just an overly enthusiastic friend. I head on over, seeing as how there's not another familiar person on the airship. Though, there is a familiar scent here. Still, I'm not going on a wild goose chase just because I think she's here.

"What's with you, aren't you excited?"

"Yeah, of course I just... I got moved ahead two years." Ruby looks down at the floor, before looking over and seeing me. "Anima! Hey, uh, this is Yang. My sister." Well, she's eager to get off topic.

"Oh, hello! I don't think I've ever seen you before." Yang smiles. Well, she's rather upbeat. Long golden hair, brown cropped vest, yellow undershirt leaving her midriff exposed, black mini shorts and brown boots. More fashion over function. I open my mouth to speak when the News monitors cut to a news story on the heiress Weiss Schnee.

"Yes, it has been confirmed now that the White Fang operative responsible for an attempt on the Schnee family's lives has been subdued and detained. Atlas police spent three days hunting the terrorist in the sewers before he gave himself up. If this is the first you're hearing of this, the Schnee's are safe, though Weiss Schnee, future heiress to the Schnee fortune, has been hospitalized with a broken leg and several minor injuries. Jaques Schnee is reportedly seeking the-" The monitor cuts out to reveal Glynda Goodwitch.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"

"Who's that?"

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The hologram winks out, and suddenly everyone gasps at once. The view of Beacon from here is just… incredible.

"Have you ever seen something so awesome?" Yang says, and I find myself muttering "Once, far from here." No one notices though. Then it hits me again. A particularly familiar scent on the air. I do follow it this time, moving away from the pair, when a blonde boy who's moved towards my friends begins vomiting on the airship. Well, there goes the trail. Hard to smell anything but...horror.

"Well I guess the view isn't for everyone." Yang quips, then pales when Ruby points out the vomit on her shoes. Well, that's one way to meet someone new. Instead of going back, I keep moving forward through the ship. I've got a lot of dust to wheel off this thing.

Getting off the bullhead was rather easy. Gravity has a way of pulling large carts of luggage down ramps. Picking up the resulting mess, and being yelled at by a few injured students, was less easy. Ruby and her sister caught up, helping put the cases back on the small luggage cart. A few vials clink together, but all in all, no harm no foul. "Well, could have been worse."

"Really?" Yang asks. I inform her on the small chance we could have exploded, but otherwise no harm. We set off towards the school, the large, imposing and awe inspiring tower of Beacon.

"Oh Yang look!" She points to a student checking over their weapon, what appears to be a grenade launching hammer. Yikes, I would hate to get hit by that thing. "And that kid's got a flaming sword!" Yang tugs her back by the hood, making her sputter a bit.

"Don't get oo excited. They're just weapons sis."

"Well, I suppose. I find there's a rather intimate connection between a weapon and its wielder."

"Oh boy, are you also obsessed?"

"Oh no, just an observation. My weapons are rather plain." I pat my two thigh holsters, holding my large daggers.

Around that time a swarm of people move by, and a few call out to Yang. "Well, I uh, gotta go. You two take care!"

"Wait, don't leave me!" Ruby yells, to absolutely no avail. The crowd, and the blonde, have already moved on. "Yang…" She suddenly looks rather uncomfortable, and almost shrinks away.

"So, tell me about your weapon, red. I saw it in action, but that's not really knowing a weapon." She brightens up just a bit, shifting it off her back. It definitely looks harmless as it is now.

"Well uh, I built it myself at Signal. It uses a high caliber bullet with high recoil to tear through grimm, and add force to the swing. The recoil is designed to fly straight back, but with a bit of moving it either way the force is added to the swing, making it slice right through foes, or break apart bone plates. What uh, what do you use? Besides dust."

I flip open my left holster, drawing out a combat dagger. "Nothing fancy. The hilt opens up. You twist the pommel to open it and put a vial in, and press the pommel's button to cause the dust to be spread along the blade from these tiny grooves there. The other one works just the same."

"That's pretty cool!"

"When you see what I can do with this stuff, it's even cooler. C'mon, we gotta get to the hall. I think we're supposed to hear a speech or something."

"And uh...where exactly is that?"

"I uh. Well, this is awkward. I haven't really been paying attention to the path. I think we passed it." After several minutes we end up pushing our way through a crowd in the main hall, to a nice secluded area. Yang just kind of appears. I ignore her though, because the scent has most definitely returned. I turn to follow it, telling them to watch my things for just a moment, when I lay eyes on exactly who I thought it was. I toss a small pebble at her, and point up to the rafters.


	4. Catching A Train

Forever fall is one of my favorite places. The trees are always in bloom with autumn leaves, and seem to regrow them almost as quickly as they lose them. The forest floor is a carpet of warm colors. I chose today to stretch the old dark side. With a wave of my hand a mask forms across my face, pure white with red lines carved into it. A grimm mask. Blackness spreads over my body, small spires of bone shooting out along my spine as I crouch down, hands shifting to claws.

I let out a small howl, and begin racing through the forest. Leaping from tree to tree, occasionally swiping at weaker grimm which roam the forest. That is until I get a sort of ping. To say grimm lack abilities like ours is incorrect. Each contains a malformed soul, incomplete as it is manufactured instead of natural. They cannot generate an aura, yet some do possess abilities granted to them. They aren't individual, but by species. The beowolf, and several other hunter form grimm, as my father would call them, can actually detect active auras. And there are two nearby.

Normally no one enters Forever Fall, so I find myself curiously inching towards them. And who I find is, well, unnerving. Sitting on a rock is a well dressed girl, wearing a black vest pinned together with a single silver button and a sleeveless white crop top. White shorts, black stockings which lighten to purple as they go, and black boots. Very long black hair, halfway down her back, amber eyes, and a cute bow. Almost like cat ears. She's rather beautiful, but my attention is on the well known psychopath next to her.

Adam Taurus. With an outstanding bounty of three hundred and sixty thousand lien on his head. He wears a half grimm mask, as opposed to my full one. Not a day goes by that I don't find dislike in the White Fang's signature accessory. He wears a long black coat, open in places to reveal a red undershirt, similar to his hair color. Sheathed on his waist is a sword, and a large omega sign is emblazoned onto his shirt's back, the sleeves adorned with stylized roses and thorns.

I inch back a few feet. As brave as I am, I'm not taking on this one. "It's time." He says, and heads off with this faunus girl. At least, I assume she's a faunus. I don't remember Adam as being the type to work with humans from what the news says. Still, I haven't seen this girl before. Right before I start running through the trees to get anywhere else, I hear it. The supply train that runs through Forever Fall. That must be their target! And like an idiot I left my scroll at home. Sighing, and spending a few moments psyching myself up, I try to catch up to them.

Sliding down the hill, I follow their method of reaching the train. Eyes trained on them, about six cars up, I see him rest his hands on the hilt of his sword, and suddenly the locked hatch is missing its lock. Faster than I could even see. God I'm so dead. Catching up to them, I hear from the hatch "-dentify yourself." Followed by a screech of metal on metal. Atlas automated defense troops. Well, this certainly isn't good. I climb down into the hatch, anchoring myself to the roof with my claws.

Adam, for all his flaws, certainly knows how to fight. Slicing through the Knights like paper. And that faunus girl has some interesting weaponry. A cleaver for a sheathe, and a katana with a pistol at the crossguard. With a bit of mechanical mystery it folds down into a lethal kusarigama, when attached to that long black ribbon on her arm. In mere moments they are in the next car. I gulp, and follow. Adam begins checking crates with this other faunus. After a bit I hear a sound I became familiar with in Atlas. A security droid booting up. I look up at this odd black shape I'm next to, as red eyes stare back at me.

"Blake, move on up to the next car. I'll set the charges."

"Explosive device detected. Unknown manufacturing signature. Protocol Two in effect."

"But what about the crew?"

"What about them?"

"Lethal Force Authorized." And then it detaches. The train shakes as it lands. Four large legs, a humanoid torso, and both arm and shoulder cannons. Last I heard, they hadn't worked out all the kinks. Let's hope it at least wounds Adam.

Immediately they attack it, to little effect. And it attacks them. Rather effectively. It thrusts one of its legs out to kick Blake when she tries to bring her sheathe down on it, and keeps her on the defensive with those powerful energy blasts. Adam briefly grabs its attention, and she goes in for a kill. The droid, despite being still a work in progress, attacks her again with a preemptive strike before she can connect, headbutting her across the freight car. And then its cannons begin to slot together.

"Move!" The bull yells, pulling his ally out of the way of its blast, which rips the freight car open behind them. Taking advantage, they head outside. And the droid looks at me. Rather slowly, I creep out of the hatch, and assume a different mask. With wings now, curtesy of the nevermore, I head into the trees. At this point I'm far too curious to leave this alone, so I struggle to keep up.

I barely get close when a red shock-wave of energy nearly takes my arms off. The top of the droid flies up into the air, and disintegrates. I manage to end up on the car past them, and perch on top of it. In the aftermath of the spider droid, there's an uneasy silence, before Blake cuts the car coupling. Adam roars in rage, leaping and catching the edge of the car, to both of our surprises, pulling himself up and drawing his blade.

"No one leaves the White Fang Blake. No one leaves Me." Adam Taurus everyone, representing everything humans fear about the faunus. The blades clash against each other. He easily overpowers her, knocking her around like a training dummy. I've got to do something, but getting involved against that guy, I gotta wait for a good time, or he's going to kill me too. "This isn't really a surprise. I've seen the signs. You, trying so hard to spare our enemies, when they'd rather skin us alive than have a civil conversation. Well, I guess I can count you among them now!" He sends her rolling across the floor, edging ever closer to the end of the train. Perfect.

"You're insane Adam! You always think the worst! How many people have you killed? How many families have lost someone because of us?"

"By people, you mean vermin. Do we cry when the grimm are slaughtered when they attack us? Do you feel sympathy for them too Blake?" He starts laughing as I creep up behind him. "Of course you do. You just weren't cut out for this life. And neither was your weak father!" He raises his sword, and I unleash a barrage of feathers into his back, knocking him off the train car. He screams as he hits the ground. Watching him grow smaller, I feel a bit relieved when he gets up. I've never had to kill another person before. Even though it would have done the world a favor had he died. Maybe a grimm will get him. This place is full of them.

And then I feel a pain in my side. And another, as the lady I just saved begins beating the crap out of me. "Ah! Stop it, ow, what the hell?" I push her off, sending a feather into her ribbon, pinning it to the door of the next car. Slowly, the blackness slides off, the mask falling, then dissipating against the ground. "Is that any way to treat your hero?"

"What the hell are you?"

"That, my friend, is nowhere near as important as what you're going to do now."

Reminding her that she just had a brief fight with the world's most notorious criminal caused her to immediately shift focus, eyes opening wide. "No one who's left the White Fang has lived a peaceful life. He'll come for me."

"So how does one with passable combat experience get more?" She looks up at me skeptically. "They train. Even better, they attend a school designed to train them for combat." Her eyes tell me she's not following. "Ever hear of Beacon Academy?" She bursts out into laughter.

"There's no way they'll let me in with my background."

"I don't know, Ozpin's a long time family friend, according to my dad. I'm sure if I ask really nicely he'll look over the White Fang part of your resume." She glares at my joking tune. "Just a suggestion. If you need a place to stay, I know this nice, quiet cabin. Has a spare bedroom. You know, till you're on your feet."

"Well, what have I got to lose?"


	5. Reunions

I slip out of the crowd, leaving Ruby and her sister to talk. At the edge of the room I shimmy up a column, and find myself traversing the ceiling beams. Ozpin takes the stage, breathing in a deep sigh. Before speaking he sees me, sitting on an overhang with Blake, who immediately looks red faced. To our surprise he looks quickly back to the potential students, and continues with his speech.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. (as the students whisper among themselves) You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

"He seems a little distant." Blake says, watching him closely.

"Yeah. Probably has a lot on his plate. Haven't you heard the news?"

"About the psychopath running around Vale?"

Glynda steps up to the microphone as Ozpin makes a quiet exit. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

"So, in the past six weeks eight people have been found dead. And not just dead, mutilated. So obviously he's worried, especially since two weeks ago the last four victims were an entire fourth year team."

"I'd heard." We both get rather quiet. For awhile.

"So, changing the subject, how's the book?" Her face reddens a little. "You know, the one I sent you?" I nudge her, and she almost drops, tightening her grip on the rafter.

"It's a long way down Anima." She narrows her gaze. I suppress a chuckle. "I did bring it with me, but it's in my bag."

"Well, shall we join these strangers in the ballroom? Or can we just stay up here and ignore the awkwardness of a room of people in their pj's?" Blake moves across the beam, and places her back against it, pointing to another bar adjacent to hers. I crawl onto it, and make myself comfortable.

I wake up first, seeing my cat friend still asleep. Below, my luggage remained undisturbed. I climb down to it, calling up at Blake to wake up. She rouses slowly, and falls from her beam. I quickly grab a blue crystal and a pile of snow greets her.

"Ah, this is freezing!" She shouts, pushing through her landing spot.

"Could have let you splat." I retort, slipping that crystal back into its proper pouch. "Come on, I can hear them all talking about the initiation." We head down the hall, where some students are grumbling about the wake up and head into the armory, where I finally find my locker and begin to stow all this excess dust.

"I wondered who could have so carelessly left their belongings in the Foyer. Hello Anima." I look over my shoulder to see a very familiar face. "How's it been wanderer?"

"Far from Mistral huh, Orion?" Before me is a boy almost half a foot shorter than me, around Ruby's height. Maybe an inch or two shorter. He wears chainmail over pitch black clothing, a shock of red in his hair. Now that I think about it, him and red have a lot in common. Except for the eyes. His are blue. At his side are two large handguns. I know from experience they become small handheld scythes. A lot in common.

"Gem's here too. As well as class valedictorian Pyrrha Nikos."

"She went all the way to the top after I left huh?"

"Our bronze clad goddess of battle. Won three pro fighting tournaments. Beat some serious competition. Did you ever finish her birthday gift?" I reach into my locker, opening one of the cases, holding up a red-gold blend of dust.

"She'll get some uses out of this. Works good in emergencies. I have one for you as well." I toss him a silver vial filled with rather glittery dust. "Your's has one good use, but you could ration it into several lack luster uses. It does have a minimum amount of dust to activate. Blizzard variant. Be careful, it has a very powerful kick. The effective range is about-"

"Anima!" I sigh, looking back at the other scythe wielder. She waves me over, leading to a longer sigh.

"I've got to go. Another friend requires my attention. Try not to freeze the school." I wave back, and beckon Blake over as she finishes tying one end of her ribbon around her katana.

"So uh, I like you're bow!" Our red cloaked friend isn't the best at small talk, but we've almost made it to the cliff in relative silence, Blake reading and walking while I'm scanning the dense foliage below us. The oceans of trees. Ozpin and Glynda are waiting with the other students, and assign us all spots on a set of square platforms, with the twin axe emblem of Vale on them.

Ozpin speaks first. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Glynda steps forward, holding a tablet at her side. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin smiles, sipping from his coffee cup. From somewhere down the line I hear someone yell I told you so.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." I draw both my daggers, holding both in reverse grip. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions? Good! Now, take your positions." I do think I heard someone ask a question, but I could have been hearing things.

The platform under me makes a few clicking sounds, before rocketing me skywards. Into the emerald forest.


End file.
